Box-printing machine



July 23, "1929.

A. E ROE BOX PRINTING MACHINE s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 2. 1928INVENTOR. @422 6. &

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BOX PRINTING MACHINE Filed May 2. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. wt 6./a

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July 23, 1929. A. E. ROE 1,721,922

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Patented July 23, 1929.

' 1 UITED srAres ALPHEUS E. ROE, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BYMESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO JOHN A. MCN'EAR, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

BOX-PRINTING ivrncnmn.

Application filed May 2,

My invention relates to apparatus, for printing legends, designs and thelike, on boxes or other objects of similar nature. a

It is customary in packing goods for shipment in wooden boxes, to printthe desired designs and legends upon the box shooks before beingassembled into boxes. This practise frequently results in economicwaste, since the printing must be done before the goods are packed, andif an order be counterman'ded, or even in some cases if the destinationof the ordered shipment be changed, it is necessary either to scrap theprinted shooks or to plane off and reprint them. If the boxes havealready been made up and packed, still greater loss results.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide an apparatusfor printing boxes after they are assembled and packed. By the use of myapparatus, the printing becomes the last process before shipment, sothat any changes that may be necessary in the printing or labeling canbe made without loss almost up to the time of shipment.

A second object of my invention is to pro vi'de a machine, automatic inits operation, which can be inserted in any ordinary con- -veyer linerunning from the packing and nailing machine to the warehouse orshipping platform, so that the boxes may be printed without additionalhandling. This arrangement is also more economical than the individualprinting of the several shooks, because it eliminates considerablehandling.

Another object is to provide a machine capable of printing several sidesof each box, thus. consolidating several operations. In the particularembodiment of the invention shown and described herein, means areprovided for printing the top and both ends of the box, but itwill beapparent that, by the mere multiplication of parts, all exposed surfacesmay be printed. It is to be understood, also, that other changes inform, construction and arrangement may be made, within the scope of theclaims hereto a pended, without departing from the spirit of theinvention as set forth in said claims.

My invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate a typical embodiment thereof, and in which IFig. 1 is a partly diagrammatic side elevation of my machine, some partsbeing 1928. Serial No. 274,479. a

brokenaway and'others omitted for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken mainly on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. a

Fig. 4: is a plan view, enlarged,of one of the prlnting rolls with itsassociated mounting and inking mechanism.

Fig- 5 isa side elevation of the same. -Referring more particularly tothe draw? ings, the reference numeral 1 designates a frame. Mountedthereon, at the left hand end as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, is a track 2of any suitable form, herein shown as comprisan example of means toprovide such adju'stment I have shown said guides as supported from theuprights of the frame by two-piece adjustable brackets/7. The trackrails 2 are similarly mounted for lateral adjustment, as will bedescribed later. I I

While traveling along the track 2, the boxes pass beneath a suitableprinting roll 8, which prints their tops. This roll, whose mountingand'associated mechanism will be described later, is driven by gearing9, vertical shafts 10, and gearingll, from a horizontal shaft-12 whichalsocarries the driving sprockets 13 Y for the conveyer chains 4. v

After passing the printing roll 8 the box as shown at B in Fig. 1, runsoff the end of the track 2,. and is tilted downwardly upon its end upona lower track 1 1, .showni in Figs. 1

1, 2 and 3 as comprising spaced angleirons similar to the track 2. Theguide rails 6 continue through the machine at a lower level, as shown.The adjust-able brackets 7, for supporting the rails1l, are shown inFig. 3.

Similar brackets, which do not appear, support the track rails 2. f

A second conveyer, preferably comprising chains 15 and transverse pusherbars 16, moves the boxes along said lower track 14.

These second conveyer chains run upon sprockets 17 and 18 mountedrespectively upon shafts 19 and 20. The shaft 19 is connected with theshaft 12 by chains 21, Fig. 1, so that both conveyers are driven inunison.

While traveling on end along the track 14, the boxes pass between one ormore pairs of printing rolls which print their ends. I have shown twopairs of such rolls, adapted for printing the box ends in two colors.Rolls 22 and 23 lie beneath the track, and print the lower ends of theboxes, and rolls 24 and 25 lie above and print the upper ends. Fig. 1shows the relative positions of said rolls.

The upper rolls 24 and 25 are driven by spur gears 26 and bevel gears27, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, from vertical shafts 28, which in turn are drivenby bevel gears 29 fromtransverse shafts 30 and 31. These latter areinter-connected by chains 32, and the shaft 31 is connected with theshaft 20 by spurgears 33, Figs. 1 and '2. The lower rolls 22 and 23 aredriven by spur gears from the shafts 30 and 31, one pair only of saidgears being shown, in Figs. 3 and 4, at 34. Thus all moving parts of themachine are inter-connected for movement in timely relation. Power fordriving the whole machine may be applied at any point by suitablemechanism not shown.

After the box passes the last pair of print- I ing rolls 23 and 25,its-upper forward corner is engaged by a stationary guide or bafile 35,Fig.1, which causes it to tilt back upon its bottom, as indicated at B,so that it comes out of the machine right side up, and may be removedfrom the end of the track 14 by any suitable means, not shown.

The upper printing rolls 8, 24, and 25are adjustable vertically toaccommodate boxes of different height. For this. purpose they aremounted upon brackets 36, two of which are'shown in Fig. 3 in connectionwith the roll 25. These brackets are slid-able upon the vertical shafts.28, and are provided with threadedextensions through which passvertical screw shafts 37. Thus by rotating said screw shafts, thebrackets 36 and the printing mechanism carried thereby are raised orlowered to the proper position. 4 Any suitable means may be employed forturning the screw shafts 37, as for example a crank 38 and bevel gears39, and a chain 40 inter-connecting the two screw shafts at the top ofthe frame. It is necessary, of course, that the vertical shafts 28 besplined as shown at 28 in Fig. 4 to enable the bevel gears 27 to slidethereupon and I be driven thereby.

In addition to the vertical adjustment of the upper printing rolls, asdescribed above, all the rolls are adapted for limited vertical 7movement to enable them to follow inequalities 1n the box surfaces uponwhich they opvices. This mechanism has been omitted from Figs. 1, 2, and3 of the drawings to prevent confusion, but is shown in detail in Figs,4 and 5 in connection with the roll 23, with the understanding thatsimilar mechanism is associated with each of the other rolls. 7

The journal boxes 41 of the shaft 31 are provided with inverted V-shapedbearings 42, Fig. 5, upon which rest rocker arms 43. These arms carrythe shaft 44 of the roll 23 at one end, and slidable counter-weights 45at the other (Figs. 4 and 5). In the case of the lower rolls 22 and 23',said weights are so proportioned and position as to over-balance theweight of the rolls, and force them upwardly against the lower surfacesof theboxes, and in the case of the upper rolls 8, 24, and 25, theweights are proportioned and positioned to permit said rolls to beardown upon the upper surfaces of the boxes with the necessary pres sure.In the case of the upper rolls 8, 24, and 25, the rocker arms 43 aremounted upon the vertically movable brackets 36, and for the lower rolls22 and 23 the rocker arms are mounted upon the fixed journal brackets41. The action of said rocker arms is thesame in all cases.

Any suitable inking mechanism may be employed. Such devices are wellknown, and need not be described in detail herein. I have indicated,however, an inking device having a plurality of rolls 46, 4 and 5,mounted in a frame 47, which may be mount ed in any suitable manner, asby being journaled upon the shaft 31, as indicated at 48 in Fig. 5. Achain is indicated at 49 for driving the inking rolls from the shaft 44."It is understood, of course,'that each printing roll will be providedwith a similar inking device.

Each printing roll is also understood to be equipped with the necessarytype or plates for printing the desired impressions, but as theconstruction and mounting of the same form no part of my invention, theyhave been omitted from the'drawings- I have shown the lower rolls,however, as indicated at 23 inFigs. 3 and 4, as provided with a raisedor enlarged central portion 50 to fit between the track rails 14. Thisis to be un derstood as merely one example of suitable means forenabling said lower rolls to print the lower surfaces of the boxeswithout interference from said rails. v

' It will be seen from the foregoing that the machine is entirelyvautomatic in its operation. The initial track '2 may receive the boxesfrom any suitable conveyer, not shown, and the end of the track-14 maydeliver them to another conveyer, so that they advancecontinuously'in'an orderly procession. As

they enter the machine, their tops are printed by the roll 8; then theyare tilted on end, and both ends are printed by the rolls 22, 23, 24,and 25; and finally they are tilted back onto their bot-toms beforebeing discharged. The

printing rolls and conveyer chains are driven in the pro-per timedrelation, of course, so that each box surface receives the desiredprinting.

I claim 1. A box printing machine comprising a conveyer adapted toadvance a box in a horizontal plane; a device for printing the uppersurface of said box; a second horizontal conveyer positioned at a lowerlevel than the first conveyer and adapted toreceive the box by tiltingtherefrom to position another surface uppermost; and a second device forprinting said other surface.

2. A box printing machine comprising means for advancing a box; animpression roller adapted to print an exposed surface of said box; arocking frame in which said roller is mounted for yieldable contact withthe box surface; a support upon which said rocking frame rests and bywhich it is carried and means for moving said support toward and awayfrom the box.

3. A box printing machine comprising a plurality of printing devices;means for receiving and advancing a box in position to present anexposed surface to one of said printing devices; means for tilting thebox between said printing devices to present an other surface to asecond of said printing devices; and means for tilting the box back toits original position and discharging it from said advancing means.

4. A box printing machine comprising a horizontal track; a secondhorizontal track positioned below the first track; means for V advancinga box, resting upon its bottom,

slidably mounted upon said shafts and guided thereby; an impressionroller carried by said brackets and adapted to print the upper surfaceof the box; a connection between said rotating shaft and the roller forrotating the latter; andmeans for raising and lowering said bracketsupon said shafts.

6. A box printing machine comprising means for advancing a boxhorizontally; a

pair of vertically disposed shafts, one pos-itioned on each side of saidadvancing means; one of said shafts being rotated; brackets slidablymounted upon said shafts and guided thereby; an impression rollercarried by said brackets and adapted to print the upper surface of thebox; a connection between said rotating shaft and the roller forrotating the latter ;'a screw parallel and adjacent to each shaft, saidscrews having threaded connection with said brackets; and means forrotating said screws to raise and lower said brackets upon said shafts.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALPHEUS E; ROE.

